


Hear it Again

by loose_canon



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: All canon - Freeform, Bodyguard Renee, Brief Seth Sightings - He's Fine and Alive and He and Allison Aren't Together, Brief/Vague Drug Mention, Brief/Vague Gang Mention, Childhood Friends For Like One Second, F/F, Heiress and Business Lady Allison, Mostly Tenderness Here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 17:52:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19214509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loose_canon/pseuds/loose_canon
Summary: Renee doesn't expect too much excitement from her new job as personal security for heiress Allison Reynolds. When she finally meets her employer, she gets a different sort of surprise, and bits of the past come rushing back.





	Hear it Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [softlightwood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softlightwood/gifts).



> this is for a server exchange. here you go, sarah! I hope you like it!! <3 it sure was a lot of fun to write.  
> everyone else, please enjoy :)

Renee was on her way to meet her new employer. This job couldn’t be that much harder than the last. If anything, Renee was a little sad to lose some of the excitement of her last gig. At least being a bodyguard for an heiress was going to give her more stability.

Seth, the head of Reynolds security, waited for Renee in a small guard house flanking a huge home large enough to hold several families. Both were surrounded by tall pines whose needles scented the air as they fell to the grass below.

“Renee, we’re glad to have you on the team,” Seth said as they shook hands. “Stephanie Walker’s never sent us a dud.” He was a young man himself, light hair cropped close and uniform bland. Renee returned a thin smile at the mention of her adoptive mother and head of the security firm. The man led Renee to the large house, acquainting her with the areas she would spend most of her time in as Allison’s Reynold’s personal security agent: Allison’s wing, the workrooms where she put together clothing for her fashion line, her personal rooms, the offices and meeting rooms. Finally, Renee was brought to the woman she was to protect: Allison Reynolds. Seth smirked as he introduced them, as if there would be no need for Renee with him on the case. The three of them sat at a table in what Renee assumed was an office used for official meetings, everything shiny and modern except the thoroughly padded chairs. 

When they were all seated, Renee finally had a chance to look her new boss in the face. Allison was as beautiful as she was rumored to be. She held her shoulders and her head high, her perfect, brown shoulders held back a curtain of blonde-dyed coils; it was like looking at a goddess. And her face--Renee nearly hesitated--it was almost familiar. The full lips had the hint of a smile about them, though otherwise Allison’s demeanor was all-business, and her brown eyes were heavy-lidded and sharp. Renee had definitely seen this woman before, but where?

“Renee, welcome,” Allison said. Her voice was smooth and relaxed, but her intense gaze told Renee that she was being examined as well. 

“Thank you, Miss Reynolds.”

“Please, call me Allison.”

“Allison, then.”

Pleasantries exchanged, Seth began a long explanation of the rising dangers around Allison: her separation from her parents, the small thefts that had taken place here and there in the last few months, a growing uneasiness both Seth and Allison had been feeling at public events. Allison had made the unprecedented decision to hire a personal guard to stay with her at all times.

Renee listened while she racked her brain. Where did she know this woman from? Had Allison known Renee before she was Renee, back when she was Natalie Shields, gang runner and unwanted foster child? Renee’s hand reflexively slipped to the place her knife was strapped to her thigh. Allison raised her eyebrow a fraction of an inch and suddenly Renee was back in elementary school, one of the many she had been in as she had moved around foster homes.

#

_ They were young. It had to be around fourth or fifth grade, the last vestiges of innocence still hanging on. She was Natalie. _

_ Natalie had just been moved to a new house, the one with the kind woman with good intentions who couldn’t handle what she was getting into. She called Natalie “Nat” and gave her pretty clothes, but Natalie was anger and pain, already caught up in the beginnings of gang life, the child of parents deemed unfit to keep her. She felt ungainly and ugly in her gifted outfits. She kept to the simplest colors, the ones that let her move the easiest.  _

_ Natalie didn’t make friends, though she tried not to make enemies either. There was no point. She would be moving on from here soon enough. Natalie could see the disappointment bloom in the woman’s eyes when she returned to the house late, clothes dirty, face a mess, heart beating fast. The woman had never caught Natalie with anything on her, but she must know on some level, even if she ignored it.  _

_ This side of Chicago was wealthier, and Natalie wasn’t used to the wide halls and clean floors at school, the smell of fresh paint drying in the gymnasium. She saw the life she could have if she were to get straight, her only worries who was mad at whom, where her locker was in the hall. But even as she thought these things, she didn’t wish for them. There was no point wishing for what she couldn’t have. So she did just well enough in her classes not to arouse suspicion, and the woman tried to be proud of her. _

_ It was recess and Natalie was alone, pushing a volleyball on a string round and round the metal pole it was tied to, the rhythmic sound of her fist hitting the rubber satisfying. She knew she was supposed to be playing with a partner, whatever this game was called. Natalie was calculating how long she had to get to the meetup point after school when she was pushed from behind.  _

_ “Oh, sorry,” said a girl from her homeroom. Allie, she remembered. The little clump of girls Allie had been running with had stopped to giggle and fall all over each other. Allie smiled softly at Natalie. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you okay?” Her face was lovely even back then, her curls jet black and wild. Natalie’s hair had been dark then, too. _

_ “Yeah, I’m fine.”  _

_ “Allie, we’re going to the swings,” sang a voice from behind the girl _

_ “Okay,” Allie called back, but she didn’t turn around. _

_ Natalie looked down at her shoes and pushed around the wood chips at her feet. _

_ “Are you sure you’re okay?” _

_ “Yeah,” Natalie said and looked up, and in that moment she wasn’t lying. _

_ “All right. See you around--Natalie.” Allie smiled, her eyebrow raised a touch, and Natalie couldn’t meet that mischievous look with a smile of her own. She wasn’t even sure why Allie would know the name of someone as quiet and unobtrusive as her. It was too late to ask, though. Allie flounced around, curls flying everywhere, and set off in the direction her friends had gone, silk tank top and expensive jeans be damned. _

_ Natalie smiled a little for the rest of the day, even as she picked out her contact in a crowd and made plans to move little packets from one end of the city to the other. _

#

Now she was looking the same girl in the face, a woman now, with an empire and a history and a need to be protected. Renee wouldn’t bring it up if she didn’t. They were both different, went by different names, though Renee had undoubtedly experienced the biggest transformation. And if the rumors about Allison Reynolds were true, Renee shouldn’t expect much more from her than a down-to-business demeanor and a thorough verbal telling off and quick ousting if Renee failed her. Renee wouldn’t. 

Allison still watched her, and Renee got the feeling she had seen Renee remember their first encounter in her eyes, though that was ridiculous. 

“I don’t usually need a personal guard,” Allison said, “but Seth recommended it, and after the last encounter with that delusional woman Kathy Ferdinand, I’d prefer it if no one got close to me unless invited.”

“Absolutely,” Renee said. 

Seth talked Renee through her daily duties while Allison tapped away at her phone and chimed in occasionally. It seemed to be a lot of private jet travel, fancy events, and board meetings. Allison, too, seemed bored by the prospect. 

“The best days are when I get to stay home and work on designing,” Allison smiled.

“Please, you love to be adored at the galas,” Seth countered.

Allison rolled her eyes. “I don’t pay you for your opinions, Seth.” 

Seth grinned at Renee. “Of course not. Well if that’s it, I’ll see myself out,  _ Miss Reynolds. _ ”

Allison’s fingers stopped mid-tap as she looked up from her phone and told Seth to kindly go fuck himself.  Seth moved out of the room at double-speed. The door scraped closed, and then they were alone.  Allison sighed and leaned forward. Her golden ringlets cascaded over her shoulders and she fingered a gold hoop earring. Renee could smell the lotion she used, something like coconut and a hint of florals.

“There’s something else I’m going to you to do.” Allison locked eyes with Renee again.

“Something you couldn’t ask with Seth around?”

“That’s right,” Allison said. 

Renee nodded.

“I hired you because you come highly recommended from a good agency, but also because I want you to teach me to fight. There are more thefts going on than Seth wants to admit, and it seems to me like an inside job. I have you now, but I also want to know that I can defend myself,” Allison paused, “preferably with a weapon.” 

“You want me to teach you to fight with knives.”

“Eventually, yes.”

Renee didn’t know how to respond. She was a more peaceful person now, only using force when she had to protect her clients. Then again she supposed teaching Allison to fight with knives was part of that. But there was something about the exercise that felt revealing. Allison doesn’t know anything, Renee reminded herself. She’s your boss. She’s asking for you to do your job, to do your best to protect her. She ran her hands over the smooth leather of the chair before folding them on her lap.  “I can do that. It will take a while, though. We’ll have to start off with the basics before we move on to using weapons.”

Allison sat up straight and shook her hair. “That’s fine with me.” Her chin was high and that ghost of a smile was on her face. Renee had a feeling there wasn’t much Allison couldn’t do when she put her mind to it. “We’ll start tonight.”

#

Renee retrieved her knives from one of her bags. She stood in her new room. She would have breaks to go home and see Stephanie and the others every month, but until then this room was as good as hers. Allison had told her so. Renee had moved her things around, hung her clothes in the closet and folded the rest in the dresser drawers. Her toiletries stood around the sink, ready to be transported to the shower. It was a good room, and the mattress was comfy. She had bounced on it a few times, knowing the door was securely locked. Renee hadn’t thought about Natalie in a long time, the girl she was before all of this, but she thought to herself that Natalie might have grown up to be a very different person if she had had a room like this, her own, and a comfy mattress to boot. She was momentarily grateful to be here now, and to have a similarly comfortable mattress waiting at home. 

Renee unstrapped the sheath from her thigh and pulled on her fighting clothes, tight and black, and punched the air a few times in front of her. The knives she almost left in the room. They wouldn’t need them this first session, but perhaps Allison would want a demonstration. She grabbed them at the last minute, then met Allison in the little exercise room. The room was set up on one half like a dance studio, like a gym on the other. Allison was in the process of pulling a mat onto the floor. She was obviously strong. Her arms were corded and shoulders wide in her tank top. Renee would test her strength and reflexes, and they would go from there. Renee moved to help Allison move the last mat to its place and velcro it in place.

They ran through some warm ups and stretches, neither leading the other. Allison’s hair was piled in a bun on her head that stayed secure no matter how she moved it. A little piece of magic. Renee had thrown her own white-blonde strands into a little ponytail, but the pieces were short enough to begin falling out. No matter, she wasn’t here to look good, she was here to train Allison. They ran through a few basic drills then Renee modeled a few basic self-defense moves for Allison, having Allison play the role of attacker and herself the defender. Allison had apparently taken her share of self-defense classes. She was fluid and fairly quick. Finally, Renee pushed Allison to a point where she wasn’t comfortable, then slowed down the movements. They worked through the sequence several times. Renee modeling the correct stances and giving Allison instructions on how to adjust her feet and shoulders. 

They worked until they were both breathing hard, the faint smell of sweat just beginning to permeate. Renee liked this feeling, her heart beating fast, her movements sure. She liked the satisfying sound of skin on mat, a hit connected. When she was fully grounded in her body, she couldn’t get lost in her mind. They broke for water. Allison wiped her forehead with the bottom of her tank top, and Renee forced herself to look elsewhere.

“So,” Allison said, panting, “you going to give a little demonstration with those?” She jerked her head toward the knives that lay in sheathed in a neat pile on a towel.

“What would you like to see?”

Allison scanned the room as if looking for something for Renee to stab. “Enough to be impressed...or afraid.”

Renee retrieved the knives and unsheathed them, the cool metal glinting in the overhead lights. She spun one in her hand and stopped it with the handle facing out, stretched to Allison. For a moment Allison didn’t react, then Renee had the other proffered as well. 

Allison looked from Renee to the knives. “You want me to take them? Both?”

“Yes, but be careful. I just want you to hold them, not to use them.”

“All right.” Allison gripped the handles and held them steady away from herself.

“Get in a ready stance.”

Allison bent her knees as they had been practicing, shoulders back and eyes not leaving Renee’s form. 

Renee approached slowly, then in a few moves she had Allison disarmed and on her back, knives thrown to the side. She had Allison pinned, but left plenty of room between them. Still, she could hear Allison’s rough breathing, then Allison broke out into a smile and huffed a laugh.

“Well, damn. I am impressed.” Allison scanned Renee’s face, surveyed her eyes down to her lips and back again, or at least Renee imagined.

“But are you afraid?” Renee finally countered.

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I was.” They both grinned at that, and Renee rose then extended her arm to Allison. Allison took her hand and Renee hauled her up. She was still set on talking, apparently. “I guess you’re not as shy as I remember, then.”

Renee snapped to attention. This was the first time Allison had referenced their brief past together. “I’m probably not most of the things you remember.” Her voice was steady. Renee wasn’t ashamed of her past. She was proud of her ability to change.

“I suppose not.” Allison reached for her water bottle. “Still pretty, though.”

Renee went still. “I’m sure you already know you’re beautiful. People must tell you all the time.”

“Never hurts to hear it again.”

Renee came back to herself. Allison was her boss, and she had just arrived here. She couldn’t get carried away now. She  smiled politely. “I’m sure you will.”

Allison raised an eyebrow. “Without a doubt. Let’s pick this up.”

They pulled up the mats and returned them to their corner. Renee was focused on her task, but she couldn’t help but watch Allison and wonder what game she was playing. Why bring up her past just to call her pretty? Maybe it was simply a compliment, or a pass Renee hadn’t returned. Either way, it didn’t seem to be bothering Allison now. 

“I’m going to clean up and head to bed. We have a night guard stationed in the hallway, but I’ll expect you to be ready by the time I’m up tomorrow.”

“And when will that be?”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Allison grinned. 

“I suppose so.” 

Renee got ready with swift proficiency and was soon swaddled in the new bed. She closed her eyes and her mind was back to Allison, the grin and the compliment, their little spar. Renee might have thought Allison was flirting with her, or testing her. Or maybe looks were just what a woman like Allison cared about, though Renee was smart enough to see Allison was more complex than that. She willed her mind elsewhere, thinking about her foster mother, Stephanie, imagining what she might be up to, planning when she could call her the next day. Soon she drifted off.

#

_ It was Natalie’s last day at school here. She wasn’t supposed to know, but she had enough experience to be able to tell the signs. The woman she lived with now had a strained smile and spent lots of time on the phone. Natalie hadn’t felt guilty eavesdropping, especially when she overheard the woman’s frustration. “Bless her heart,” she had said, “I just can’t seem to get through to her. It’s just too much.” Natalie began packing up her things right away, and the next day at school she spent the day accepting her new reality. This is just how things went with her. Maybe if she did well enough as a runner, maybe she could work her way up to a position with some stability, some respect. She looked at the wide halls and the green, green grass on the playground.  _

_ “Natalie, earth to Natalie!”  _

_ She whipped around and saw the person calling to her.  _

_ “Allie.” _

_ “Hey.” The girl approached her and took a seat on the metal bench next to her. “Now you’re the one not paying attention.” _

_ Renee looked down, ashamed. _

_ “Hey--don’t do that.” Allie covered Natalie’s hand with her own.  _

_ A drop of something wet landed in her lap. Renee raised her hands to her cheeks and realized they were from her own eyes. She surveyed the moisture on her fingertips. How strange.  _

_ Allie didn’t tell Natalie it was going to be okay or ask her what was wrong. She just sat next to Natalie quietly for a few minutes, swinging her legs and watching the other kids scramble across the playground, screaming and laughing. Exhausted teachers watched with sunglasses on, hands on their hips, whistles hanging from their necks. The day was clear for once, approaching something close to hot, but the breeze brought relief and the hint of distant cow pastures. Natalie was content, even knowing she had to leave soon. She was good at this by now. _

_ The bell rang in a high, long tone, signaling the end of recess, but Natalie didn’t want to move. Allie didn’t shift either. Hordes of students ran and walked past them, jumping and sauntering and arguing. Then a boy was in both their faces.  _

_ “Hey Allie, I heard you showed Ricky your bra. Would you show me too?” He cackled. _

_ Allie rolled her eyes. “No, but I’ll show you this,” she said and feigned surprised as she pulled her middle finger from behind her back. _

_ “That’s not very ladylike,” the boy said, genuinely affronted. _

_ Natalie snorted.  _

_ He turned on her. “What’s your deal, nobody?” _

_ Natalie stood and swiped a leg under him, a trick she had recently learned. The boy fell on his ass and Allie lost her mind laughing.  _

_ “Oh my God, Natalie,” she choked out. “That was incredible.” Natalie laughed along with her as the boy threw them an annoyed look and stomped away. Natalie leaned against a pole holding up a little awning above the bench. _

_ “I’m going in,” Allie said when she finally recovered. “You coming?” _

_ “Nah,” Natalie replied. “I think I’ll stay out here a minute.” _

_ “Okay. See you around, Natalie.” Allie was already flouncing away again. _

_ “See ya.” _

#

Bright sunlight flooded the room through the open curtains. Renee pushed the pastel ends of her hair out of her eyes, waking quickly. The sunlight was too strong. She must have slept in; Allison usually had her up by now. She slid into her slippers and padded across the room where she slipped a knife in her sleeve. Everything was unusually quiet, not a peep from the rooms in Allison’s wings. The scent of brewing coffee called her to the kitchen. She followed it.

“Shit!” A crash came from the pantry where the figure of a woman had briefly appeared and then disappeared. Renee was there in a second. 

Allison was backed up against a shelf, her arms full of flour and other ingredients, hair braided and twisted into an intricate bun, makeup already flawless and ready for the day.

“Goddamnit, Renee. You weren’t supposed to be awake yet.”

Renee took some of the boxes from Allison’s arms and set them on the island. Allison set to work immediately, slamming cupboards and retrieving bowls. Renee stood beside her at the counter and tried to help but was mostly in the way.

“Why not?”

“I was going to surprise you with crepes, you weirdo. But now you’ve ruined the surprise.”

Renee paused. “I am surprised. What’s the occasion?”

Allison stopped mid-stir and abandoned her mixing bowl. She turned an incredulous look on Renee. “You don’t know?”

Renee shook her head, absorbed by the vision of the woman before her. She tucked a loose curl behind Allison’s ear. Allison was so beautiful when she was like this: determined, passionate.

“It’s been a year since you got here,” Allison said.

Oh. Renee hadn’t seen that coming. She knew Allison was smart, had an eye for detail, but she was still adjusting to having those faculties pointed in her direction. Allison didn’t wait for Renee to recover, just leaned in to give her a soft kiss on the cheek and then returned to stirring.

Renee went to work washing the strawberries other fruits in cold water and then slicing them. She arranging the savory ingredients so they were ready when Allison was. They worked well together from the moment Renee had joined her employ. Too well, Seth and the others had speculated, though Renee had a hard time believing them at first. Allison was beautiful, well-connected, and wanted. That she remembered Renee and who she used to be was a point of embarrassment. Renee had bet against Allison and lost a fair amount of money, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be upset. Renee was perceptive, but she hadn’t seen it coming when Allison told her she was fired a few months into her job. What had she done? Renee wanted to know. Allison said she wanted to date Renee in a serious way, and she couldn’t do that when Renee was her employee. A new security guard had been hired, though their duties were slightly less than Renee’s had been now that Allison had her own built-in security. Allison had pursued her gently and steadily--well, as gently and steadily as someone like Allison could. Her fighting was coming along, too. She was still no match for Renee who could put Allison on her back in half a second, and frequently did to their mutual delight. Allison had even made the journal back to North Dakota with Renee to see her adoptive mother Stephanie. Renee had been nervous, but the two women immediately took to each other, each recognizing a different kind of strength in the other. Stephanie even invited Allison to go to ceremony with them. 

Seth interrupted their peaceful breakfast, keeping his eye-roll to a minimum. “Allison, we’re ready to go when you are.”

“Perfect, give us an hour.”

He nodded tersely and spun to leave, giving Renee a half-smile as he left. 

Today they had business to attend to. The internal threat had been discovered--an old employee of Allison’s parents had slowly infiltrated Allison’s estate, stealing whatever he thought he deserved, not even taking it back to Allison’s parents. Renee had the pleasure of taking the man down personally when he had tried to enter Allison’s personal rooms. Renee still worked with Allison even though she wasn’t on her payroll as a guard. She cared about Allison’s work and wanted to keep intrusions into their life to a minimum. And that meant she got to head the philanthropic branch of Allison’s company. Right now she was overseeing research into ecological sustainability. It was more than she could have ever imagined for herself.

They finished up quickly and cleaned the dishes with their particular ruthless efficiency. Renee couldn’t help but be warm all over, her heart full and expectant, but steady and content. Allison disappeared to put the last of the flour in the pantry and Renee couldn’t help but call out to her.

“Hey, Allie.” 

“Yeah, baby?” Allison reappeared in front of Renee and slipped her arms around Renee’s waist. Renee looked up into Allison’s warm brown eyes, traced her full lips and her round cheekbones.

“I love you.” It wasn’t the first time Renee said it, but she knew it never hurt to hear it again.

“I love  _ you _ , Renee Walker.” Allison whispered, then pulled Renee into a gentle kiss. Renee’s hands came up to cup Allison’s jaw. She was sunlight and sharp mint, comforting warmth. 

“I’m glad we found each other again.”

Loving Allison was thrilling and easy, terrifying and safe. It was the best job Renee ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @sapphicrenee :)


End file.
